Seattle reverses course on business tax after Amazon pressure

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Just weeks after passing a new tax on big businesses, Seattle political leaders signaled late Monday they would reverse course and repeal it.

Mayor Jenny Durkan and city council President Bruce Harrell said in statements that they would end the tax, initially meant to combat rising homelessness in a city where housing prices have soared.

“We heard you,” Durkan and seven of the nine city council members said in a statement. “This week, the City Council is moving forward with the consideration of legislation to repeal the current tax on large businesses to address the homelessness crisis.”

Business groups, led by the city’s largest employers like Amazon and Starbucks, had raised $200,000 in just a few weeks to gather signatures for a referendum challenging the new tax. They had planned to submit those signatures on Tuesday in an effort to place the referendum on the November ballot.

“The announcement from Mayor Durkan and the City Council is the breath of fresh air Seattle needs,” said Marilyn Strickland, who heads the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce. “Repealing the tax on jobs gives our region the chance to address homelessness in a productive, focused and unified way.”
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/391807-seattle-reverses-course-on-business-tax-after-amazon-pressure

The most liberal city in America could have been told in no uncertain terms that Amazon might just move its entire HQ to another city.

I wonder if that could influence the City Council?

[NavyCanDo]

BS it was not the pressure from Amazon or any of the 500 other businesses impacted. It was the voter pressure that got them to back down. A petition to put  a repeal vote on the November ballot had far more names than needed. The Leftist on the city council knows it will draw out the moderate and conservative voters which could spell trouble for others measures and races. This was the only way to prevent it from being voted on in November.

[thackney]

BS it was not the pressure from Amazon or any of the 500 other businesses impacted. It was the voter pressure that got them to back down. A petition to put  a repeal vote on the November ballot had far more names than needed. The Leftist on the city council knows it will draw out the moderate and conservative voters which could spell trouble for others measures and races. This was the only way to prevent it from being voted on in November.

Voters got excited when Amazon put on hold the expansion with new jobs after the tax was announced.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/03/amazon-seattle-expansion-paused-tax-proposal/

...the e-commerce giant has put the construction planning of a building it was going to build downtown later this year on pause. It's also reconsidering its plans to occupy a building that's already being built -- both of those decisions jeopardize 7,000 jobs in Seattle....